What’s on TV Wednesday: ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘Nova’

Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed second feature is on IFC. And PBS airs a documentary on the Concorde airplane.

What’s on TV

BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) 11 p.m. on IFC. Electing to begin watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s 155-minute take on the Los Angeles pornography industry of the 1970s-1980s at 11 p.m. takes commitment. Those who sign on will find colorful company in Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), the teenager at the center of the film who early on decides that his true calling is in pornography and that Dirk Diggler is a wise choice for a professional name. He goes to work for a film director played by Burt Reynolds, who is one of many notable members of this movie’s smashing ensemble, which includes Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, William H. Macy and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote that “everything about ‘Boogie Nights’ is interestingly unexpected,” a terrific note of praise. For those who want to start a bit earlier, the film is also available to stream on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.

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A Concorde in flight.CreditCollection Air France

NOVA: FLYING SUPERSONIC 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This month, it will be 15 years since the final Concorde flight touched down on the tarmac at Heathrow International Airport in London, putting to rest commercial supersonic travel (at least for now). To mark the occasion, “Nova” is debuting a documentary on the making of the notable (and notably troubled) aircraft, which was introduced commercially in the mid-70s.

What’s Streaming

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Chris Durand in “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.”CreditDimension Films

HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER (1998) on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube. “If you don’t bring something extra to it, you are just some guy in a mask standing in a hallway.” That’s what Chris Durand, the actor who plays the infamous slasher Michael Myers in this “Halloween” sequel, recently said about the role. The latest “Halloween” was the biggest movie in the country last weekend, 40 years after the original. Those interested in a look back at the “Halloween” movies (of which there are now 11) can revisit this film, which came 20 years after the original and featured the return of Jamie Lee Curtis in her starring role. But all those that enter here, beware: In his review for The Times, Lawrence Van Gelder noted that the film is “more marketing trick than moviegoer treat.”

SAVING BANKSY (2017) on Amazon. The recent prank shredding of a Banksy painting during an auction at Sotheby’s brought one of the world’s most famous street artists (once again) into the headlines. Andy Webster wrote in his review for The Times that Colin Day’s documentary weighs “graffiti’s populist ethos against art-world profiteering.” He named the documentary a Critic’s Pick.